Environment Canada has reduced spending limits on government-issued credit cards by 36% after an internal audit warned the cards remain vulnerable to misuse, errors and fraud.The audit found the department lowered the total monthly credit available on employee acquisition cards from approximately $29.9 million as of March 31, 2025, to about $19 million by May 1, 2026."The audit noted the total monthly credit available across open acquisition cards decreased from approximately $29.9 million as of March 31, 2025 to approximately $19 million as of May 1, 2026, a reduction of about 36%," the report said.Auditors said the reduction was intended to better match available credit with operational requirements while reducing financial risk."This reduction supports better alignment of card access and available credit with operational need and risk," the report stated.The department has about 1,440 employees with acquisition cards used to purchase routine items such as office supplies. Those cards accounted for $46.2 million in spending last year.Auditors cautioned that the cards remain susceptible to abuse."Acquisition cards represent a key procurement and financial mechanism subject to ongoing scrutiny and analysis as part of exercising appropriate fiscal responsibility and stewardship over public funds," the report said."Their use carries a degree of inherent risks such as errors, misuse or fraud."The audit also found many employees had not completed mandatory training on the proper use of government purchasing cards.Only 14% of cardholders had completed the required training, despite internal controls depending heavily on employees and managers understanding when card use is appropriate."This matters because many acquisition card controls rely on cardholders and managers when use is appropriate," auditors wrote.The federal acquisition card program was introduced in 1992 to simplify routine purchasing. At the time, approximately 2,000 employees received cards after mandatory training. More than 35,000 cards have since been issued across the federal government, with numerous audits identifying irregularities..The Environment Canada findings follow years of reports documenting questionable government credit card practices.A 2023 audit at the Immigration and Refugee Board found missing documentation supporting numerous purchases and cases where auditors could not determine whether spending had been approved before expenses were incurred.At the National Research Council, auditors found employees shared government purchasing cards with co-workers who were not authorized to use them while the agency charged more than one-tenth of its annual budget to acquisition cards, including what were described as high-risk transactions.The Department of Fisheries also faced scrutiny after a 2018 audit examining approximately $140 million in annual card purchases uncovered a suspected case of fraud involving a government-issued Bank of Montreal acquisition card.A 2020 audit at Employment and Social Development Canada found only 33% of sampled transactions had been properly approved, while 12% contained inaccurate payment amounts.Meanwhile, a 2022 audit at Global Affairs Canada found diplomats had used government-issued charge cards to purchase liquor, jewelry, clothing and other expenses that auditors said lacked adequate documentation.The audit identified $117 in jewelry purchases, $9,836 spent on clothing, $12,416 for liquor, $14,251 categorized as "leisure," $23,009 for health and beauty items, $27,699 in personal purchases and $98,309 in hospitality expenses.Auditors also found that 26% of diplomatic charge card transactions appeared to circumvent the $3,000 per-transaction spending limit by splitting larger purchases into multiple charges.
